“Although reducing power consumption provides good ecological credentials for carriers and vendors alike, the real driver for improving power consumption is financial.”

The report suggests carriers should work on reducing power consumption by the base stations inside each cell tower that transmit and receive wireless signals from mobile phones. Such efforts could save carriers a sizable 43 percent on power costs from 2007 to 2013 and will start to make a dent in spiraling operations costs by 2012.

Other greener options include using alternative energy, such as solar or wind, to power cell tower sites rather than conventional electricity or diesel generators.